It's time for the annual (bi-annual?) GameTZ Secret Santa Christmas 2017! (Our thanks to CygnusTM for organizing these years ago. Now I run them on my own server using a modified version of his old code.)

Any subscriber without a current BTR that has earned a Bronze Star () is eligible to sign up (unless you've been previously banned). If you do not meet these requirements and still wish to participate, you can contact me directly to request an exception to this rule. I rarely grant them, sorry.

For those of you doing this for the first time, just read ALL of this post carefully and then ask for help here if you are still confused.

As always, we will be using a subtime "bond" (10 weeks for all participants) to encourage people to follow through on sending. Bonds should be sent to me (John) and I will hold them until your partner receives their gift. You can use this link to transfer Subtime to me. If you don't have enough GameTZ subtime for your bond, then you can buy subtime from the site! or make your own arrangements with another user. Bonds will ONLY be returned directly to the user that the bond is for. If arrangements are made for someone else to put up the bond for a Secret Santa user, it does not matter to me and I won't get involved -- the bond will still be returned to the participating user (or kept if they do not provide their gift) regardless of who actually paid the bond in their behalf. Participants will get their bond back in full when your partner marks their gift as received.

Signups are open now and will continue until Wednesday, November 22nd at ~3pm Eastern. Partners will then be assigned and emailed out later that day. Gifts must be received by Friday, December 22nd. At that time, anyone who hasn't yet received their gift may (at my discretion depending on the situation) receive one-half of their Santa's subtime bond. If a gift still isn't received after an additional week (December 29th), then the remaining half may be awarded. Plus you'll be ridiculed here for being a douche. And might get banned from future Secret Santas. Sending and receiving will be tracked through the signup site. It is very important that you update the site as soon as you send and receive so the subtime bond can be handled appropriately.

The target gift value is $10-20 US. Gifts MUST be worth a minimum of $10 US not including shipping. Every effort should be made to send a complete item. If you are sending something used, it should be complete and in at least "very good" condition. This is not a way to unload your unwanted crap.

People anywhere in the world may participate! If you are from outside the USA, you must mark the "Outside USA" checkbox when you sign up. Anyone from outside the USA must be willing to ship anywhere in the world. Users in the USA that are willing to ship anywhere in the world should mark the "Ship Anywhere" checkbox in your account settings and you may or may not be partnered with someone outside the USA.

Tips/Rules:You can't re-use your account from last time if you participated before -- you need to create a new one for each and every Secret Santa event. Look at your partner's wants and check his/her lists and posts. Put the same effort into selecting a gift for your partner that you would want someone else to put into yours. If your partner has inadequate "wants", don't give up! Try to figure it out. If you really get stuck, try a gift card or something like that! Make sure you provide adequate "wants" for your Santa. There should be at least 4-5 things on your list that fit in the target price/value range. When you get assigned a partner, start figuring out what you are going to get them! Immediately. Don't wait until the last minute! I'd prefer that people NOT talk so much about how they are going to do "great/special/extra gifts" and such if they happen to want to do that. The real intent is that people just exchange gifts that are worth around $15 or so and, hopefully, people will be happy with what they get. Don't brag that you're going to give more -- and don't get overly high expectations that someone is going to give you extra. In most cases, the person that you are assigned to is NOT the same person that is assigned to you. In other words, you aren't just making a 1-to-1 exchange with someone. You're buying a gift for someone that, most likely, is buying a gift for someone else entirely. Send your bond ONLY as a single transfer for exactly 10 weeks. Do not send multiple pieces of a bond until you reach your total. And do not use the "all" option because you don't have the full bond (i.e. you borrowed it and then had to send it 8 hours later, so you really only have 99% of the bond). You should be sending me either 10 weeks or 20 weeks -- nothing else. After you've received your gift, post in this thread thanking your Santa for what you received -- just so they know you appreciate whatever it was! (Or, if you've figured out who your Santa is somehow, you can just thank them privately if you'd rather.) Don't leave your Santa hanging without acknowledging their gift! No more organized thank-you gifts to John! I greatly appreciate the gifts that have been given in the past, but I really don't want it to be a habit. I run this for fun for people. I expect nothing more. And getting such things makes me feel guilty! So, seriously, just enjoy the gift-giving and I'm all set as far as thanks go!

WARNING

Some people suck. Despite our best efforts, people might still get stiffed. If you don't intend to follow through on your commitment here, please do not sign up.

Please keep discussions in this thread about the SS only, so things get don't out of hand like in the past. Off-topic posts may be removed!